ZINI, UMBERTO (Italian, 1878-1964) "Venice Scene." Signed, Lower right. Oil on board, 15" x 12" (sight); 18" x 15" (framed).

For centuries, Venice has been a popular subject for artists, its waterways and crumbling buildings offering an irresistible palette for shimmering reflections and soft shadows. These facets are lovingly captured by Umberto Zini in this attractive canal scene. The artist was born in Padua in 1878 and studied under d'Etorre Tito G. Ciardi and Luigi Nono at the Academy of Padua. He was known as both a portrait and a landscape artist. A number of his portraits may be found in the municipal buildings of Padua and Venice. His popular Venetian scenes, of which ours is an excellent example, appear from time to time at various European auction houses such as Christie's South Kensington, London. Provenance: a private collector. References: E. Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Gravures (Grund: Paris, 1976). Provenance: a private collector.

Art in the Afternoon, L.L.C.
P.O. Box 620066
Middleton, WI 53562
608-469-2994; 608-836-6454
info@artintheafternoon.net